From today's Facts and Arguements
What's new in cars * "Want to be the first on your block with a $50,000 [$52,000 Canadian] Toyota Prius?" writes Michael Taylor in The San Francisco Chronicle. "Head to Hybrids Plus in Boulder, Colo., and leave your Prius with their technicians. Go skiing or something, come back in three or four days with a cheque for $24,000 and you will have one of the nation's very few plug-in hybrids that should easily get 100 miles per gallon." A plug-in is an ordinary hybrid with an electric motor and gasoline engine that has been modified - usually by upgrading its battery pack or adding more batteries - so it can go a lot farther on electric power than it normally does. Hybrids Plus, for example, replaces the Prius's nickel metal hydride battery with a more powerful lithium ion battery.
* The British government will spend more than L 500,000 ($1.07-million) in an attempt to develop a recyclable car made from hemp, reports The Sunday Times of London. The most likely first use for hemp-based components is as a replacement for internal parts such as mouldings and plastics. A team of researchers at Qinetiq, the technology development firm that is overseeing the project, has already designed a pedal assembly that could replace the traditional metal accelerator, brake and clutch pedals. As the technology advances, hemp could also be used to replace body panels and large components.